The 2019 Château Lynch-Bages is stunningly good, and it's going to be interesting to compare this to 2018 over the coming decades. Based on 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, brought up in 75% new French oak, its dense purple hue is followed by an incredible bouquet of pure crème de cassis, freshly sharpened cedar pencil, spring flowers, smoke, and graphite, with an almost liqueur of rocks-like minerality. A massive, incredibly concentrated Lynch-Bages, Jean-Charles has hit a home run in the vintage, and this sensational wine has building, perfect tannins, insane purity, and a finish that won't quit. It has the purity, finesse, balance, and depth to offer pleasure not only today but to evolve for 40 to 50 years. Smart money will hide these for a good 7-8 years, but wow, what a wine. Bravo. Best After 2029.

The 2019 Lynch Bages is every bit as magnificent from bottle as it was from barrel, if not more so. What a wine! Towering and vertical in its bearing, 2019 is a total stunner. There is plenty of Lynch Bages charm, but what distinguishes 2019 most is its spine of tannin and energy. Time in the glass brings out sweet red cherry, plum, blood orange, pomegranate, and mint. The 2019 is a great, great, great Lynch Bages. It reminds me of the epic 1989 but with the youthful grip of this vintage. A towering Pauillac, the 2019 Lynch Bages will make a great addition to any cellar.

Intense, deep, and dark aromatics - such wonderful Cabernet notes on the nose. This is incredibly impactful from the very first taste, it grips the mouth and courses with power but in a well-balanced, harmonious way. Mouthwatering fruit juice is backed by tannins that, although filling the mouth entirely, come across as quite ripe and soft with a backbone of menthol-cooling freshness that goes from start to finish. A Pauillac with such an enticing dark profile, concentrated and direct but also so much to give. Still not near its potential yet.

Gorgeous from the start, with lush and caressing cassis, dark plum, and blackberry compote flavors that are substantial in feel although they seem to glide through, carried by a very refined structure that lets in alluring black tea, worn alder, floral and savory details along the way. Features a vibrant, authoritative bolt of iron through the finish to keep it all grounded. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2025 through 2045.